A lot of people, for example, think that if you've had a recent tattoo, you can't donate. And, yes, you can, if you got your tattoo in Tennessee, and you've waited for it to heal. However, if you got it in Georgia, you've got to wait a year.
It makes Caroline Chipley Johnson feel like a hero to spend 90 minutes watching TV, reading or surfing the Web.
Of course, during that time she’s hooked up to a machine that sucks out her blood, removes the platelets that help blood clot, then returns the blood to her body. Johnson, 55, regularly offers up her veins at Blood Assurance.
“I give as often as I can,” the Chattanooga resident says. “It really makes me feel good to know that, by sitting back and reading or watching TV for an hour and a half, I’m helping three cancer patients to recover from chemo and radiation treatments,” she says.
“Heck, they’ve even got a computer installed on a swing arm that’s attached to the side of the chair. You can go online while you’re sitting there. And they give you a Little Debbie and a T-shirt when you’re done.”